Day 332: Loving This World

1 John 2: 15-17

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Today we are going to continue with the theme of love. Instead today we talking about loving the world and everything we think it has to offer us.  Verse fifteen starts off by telling us exactly that. When we love the world there is no room in our hearts for God. Too many christians live in this gray area where we think that we can love both God and world. We want the best of both worlds. We must come to the realization that the having the best of the world means having something that is temporary and fleeting and at the end of the day can do nothing for us. But having God, the best of our heavenly father, well when we have that we have the best of everything. There is no gray area there is only black and white, either we love the world or we love God, but we cannot do both. Our heart cannot be two places at once. We make the choice, when we choose to love the world we are choosing a life of limitations. There is only so much the world can do for us. But when we choose to love God, we are choosing eternity, we are choosing everything by making one choice to choose God.

Verse sixteen goes on to talk about the craving for physical pleasure, everything we see and pride in our achievements and possessions. The world is very much about the tangible things, and how successful we are. Most times when we talk about physical pleasure we mention sex, while that is very high on the list it is not the only physical pleasure we seek. We crave this idea of luxury. We take pride in the things we have and our possessions. I cannot tell you how long I led a life that all I wanted was success, I craved it. I was a very prideful person and the more i achieved the bigger my head got. My pride had to be constantly fed, I always needs something or someone to validate me or else I didn’t feel like anything or anyone for that matter. The more I had the more secure I felt, and when I lost it all my security went with it. My confidence (pride) went with it. My identity was gone because I put so much of myself and my life into  my earthly possessions and the things the world had to offer that when it was no longer there, neither was I. That’s when I realized that the world gives and takes away, but God’s blessings are here to stay. There is  nothing the world can give that will give me the security that God has given me. Nothing can compare to what I have in Christ. Although that was a very hard discovery to make, it was beautiful!

All is summed up in verse seventeen. This world is fleeting, everything will one day be gone. If we want something that is permanent, if we want something that is eternal. I suggest giving God a try. We cannot have a solid foundation in anything that is not temporary. God is eternal and as long as we have a solid foundation in Him we have a life that is eternal as well. We just have to make a choice, do we want pleasure for now or eternity with Christ?

Reflection

1. Do you find yourself living in a gray area?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question guide your prayer. Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Have a conversation about what we discussed today, and if you are living in the gray area of life make the decision to love God or the world. It’s up to you.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 333!